Finished Reading 01/07/2014 - The Lies of Locke Lamora

I've been wanting to read this one for several years now, but never quite seemed to get around to it.  Now I'm sorry I put it off.  The worldbuilding here is very well done, and the characters are full of wonderful little quirks, faults, and gritty realities.  Plus Lynch is the best I've ever read at crafting curses and fitting them naturally into dialogue--difficult enough to do well, but he masters it.

But that's not what really charms in this book.  The core story--a band of suave, merry con men who jump in way over their heads--is beautifully unflinching.  This is not to say it's a flawless book (who would want to read one of those?).  There were several places where the purpose of a chapter is fulfilled, but we don't wind down for several pages.  It wasn't until halfway through the book that I began to appreciate these, as they offer us further glimpses of character and the society, and all the while we really are building toward the inevitable climax.  Yet even with that sense of inevitability, Lynch manages quite a few surprises.

Two final things of note that greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the book.  First, Scott Lynch is really fucking funny.  I laughed a lot as I made my way through.  Locke is one of the better characters I've read in years, and his sense of humor is a large part of that.  The other reason was that I listened to the audiobook, beautifully narrated by Michael Page.  If you can, listen to him read the book to you.  He's fantastic.

I cannot recommend this title highly enough.  I'm very eagerly looking forward to the second volume, which I'll be listening to again, once again narrated by Michael Page.

The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch.

9.5/10

Finished Reading 01/03/2014 - Fortunately the Milk

This is a very quick read, and has some lovely illustrations by Skottie Young.  The story was interesting (like Big Fish, but with time travel) and I enjoyed it somewhat, but it's my least favorite of Gaiman's books for younger readers.  It lacks the poignancy of Big Fish, or most of Gaiman's other works, for that matter. He's shooting for a younger audience than that of The Graveyard Book or even Coraline, but this book only amused me, whereas the other two blew me away.

I could see myself reading and rereading this book back when I was eight, perhaps nine, but then I would have put it behind me.  Unlike most of Gaiman's other books, which hit on many levels and work for readers of all ages, Fortunately, the Milk didn't live up to my (admittedly very high--it's Neil Gaiman, after all) expectations.  Buy it for your kids, your nieces and nephews, but don't expect too much out of it for yourself.

Fortunately, the Milk, by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Skottie Young

5.0/10

Finished Reading 01/02/2014 - Collapse

I've been reading this one for a while, as it is a big, dense book, and its organization makes it well suited to reading a lengthy chapter and then putting it aside for a few days to ponder.  As with his previous work in a similar vein, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, Collapse is above all meticulous and methodical.  Augustinian is the word that comes to mind.

Probably not the best book for every reader, but I find Diamond's approach to be very persuasive, and his look at past and present societies very compelling.  Recommended for those interested in history, the environment, politics, or international relations.

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed: Revised Edition by Jared Diamond.

8.0/10

Finished Reading 01/01/2014 - Academ's Fury

I read the first Codex Alera book, Furies of Calderon, last September, and liked it well enough to want to continue the story eventually, but wasn't blown away.  But then I kept finding my thoughts drawn back to Calderon, and the characters, with a surprising magnetism.  I didn't want to build up my expectations too high, only to have them let down, so it was with some trepidation that I began this second volume.

It didn't disappoint.

The characters are just as engaging as before, and the world is more fully developed and explored.  The overall plot felt a little bit contrived, but overlooking this overarching point, it was very easy to get lost in the story, as the action compels the pages to keep turning.

Fans of the first book in the Codex Alera will find even more to appreciate here, and I for one am looking forward even more to the third book than I did the second.

Academ's Fury (Codex Alera Book 2) by Jim Butcher.

8.25/10

2013 Reading Results (and 2014 plans)

So I just discovered the Goodreads Stats feature, which is pretty cool.  You can compare books across years, number of pages read, and compare publication dates to dates read.

This year, I read 24 more books than last, and 11,330 pages more than last year (42,388 total for 2013).  And the longest book I read was Stephen King's Under the Dome, at 1,074 pages.

I decided to make next year's reading target higher than last year's, and set it even with the number I've read this year: 111.  To that end, I also finally used the Want to Read feature for the first time, and added 30+ books to that list--all of which I have to read sometime next year.  They're all books I acquired this year for Kindle, and the idea is that it might keep me from buying too many new books next year--at least until I read some I already have.

If you're curious, you can check out my Goodreads profile.  I'd love to see what you're reading, too.

Thinking back, the best book I read this year was The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, with a few others deserving honorable mention: The Storyteller by Antonia Michaelis, Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson, and The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss.  That neatly rounds out my best of in fantasy, young adult, and science fiction.

Feel free to share your favorite reads of the year in the comments below or over on Goodreads.

Thanks for reading.

Finished Reading 12/16/13 - Pandemonium

My wife and I read this one together, aloud (we generally do this a book at a time, slowly, over a month or so, while privately reading other titles).  We had both read the first book, Delirium, and liked it well enough to be interested in the second.  In that book there were a few moments of very well-crafted sentences, the overall idea was intriguing, and the ending was well done, so we approached this second installment thinking it would be equally as entertaining.

But aside from a few well-crafted sentences again, my experience with this book was largely one of frustration.  Major plot points revolve around increasingly improbable set pieces and equally improbably character choices.  And aside from a few very admirable sentences, the writing (and plot) consistently pushed me out of the story, such that it was never possible to get lost in it.  We were always aware this was a contrivance, and could never feel the reality of the characters.

All in all, I didn't have high expectations for this book, but still felt disappointed by it.  And then the bombshell ending, which we both saw from ten pages away, felt like a last minute trick to force us to read the third book.  I generally don't like books that rely on tricks.

One positive note is that the Kindle version of book 2 is only $1.99 as of this writing, which is a reasonable price for some entertainment.

Pandemonium (Delirium Series Book 2) by Lauren Oliver.

2.0/10

Finished Reading - The Long War

I decided to mirror the What I'm Reading page from my website over here, and offer just a few words of summation along with the books I finish.

I've been using a 10 point rating system for some time now, broken in quarter point steps, to give a little more flexibility than just the 1-5 stars most sites offer.

The book I finished today is The Long War, book 2 in the Long Earth series by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter.  I liked it about as well as I liked the first book, which is to say that I think the concept is stupendous, the possibilities mind boggling, and some of the imagined Earths really interesting--but the plotting left me less than awe struck, a little more so in this second volume than the first.

Still, I'm interested enough to see what happens next that I'll definitely be picking up the 3rd installment when it comes out.

The Long War by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

6.75/10